


Italian Holiday

by Erandri



Series: 365 Days of McDanno [23]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Danny Takes Pity on Him, First Kiss, Getting Together, M/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Steve Doesn't Know Italian, Vacation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-26
Updated: 2018-01-26
Packaged: 2019-03-09 13:02:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13482030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erandri/pseuds/Erandri
Summary: Steve probably should have brushed up on his Italian before getting lost in an Italian town, it's a good thing an American stranger agrees to help him out.





	Italian Holiday

Over the years, he’s gone through several varieties of survival training. He knows how to find water in the desert, knows how to navigate through hostile territory without being detected, has been dropped in the middle of a jungle and been told to find his way out with nothing but the clothes on his back. He’s overcome every training obstacle the Navy could throw at him and yet he  _ still _ cannot find the piazza in one small Italian town.

He turns around again, back in front of a church he’s passed at least three times already, trying to find the small road that’s supposed to take him into the city center. Or maybe it’s an alley he’s looking for. A bike path? He tries to match the name on his map to any of the street signs he sees but none of them are right and he ends up crumpling the map up in frustration.

How hard can it be to find a festival in the middle of town? Swallowing his pride, he decides to ask a local for help and starts heading back the way he came, keeping an eye out for anyone passing by. He’s barely gone a block when he sees a man leaving his house. He rushes to catch up with him, and the guy watches his approach cautiously.

“Scusa. Per favore aiuto,” he manages to get out, fumbling over the unfamiliar words as his digs his map back out, “Sono perso,” he tries again, feeling self-conscious as the guy watches him and wishing that he knew more Italian than what he could learn on the plane ride over. “Andar a piazza. Per festival di-”

“I speak English,” the guy interrupts and he sighs in relief, hiding his embarrassment, “You want to go to the festival?”

“Yeah,” Steve says, folding up the map and shoving it into his pocket.

“Why don’t you come with me, I’m heading there anyway,” the guy says and he happily agrees, “I’m Danny, by the way.”

“Steve.”

They make small talk as Danny leads him off of the street and through a narrow alleyway. He can already hear the faint sounds of music echoing off of the walls and when they emerge he sees the bright decorations leading to the piazza. Eventually, they get to the crowded piazza and he watches as a little girl comes tearing through the square and jumps right into Danny’s arms. She’s followed by an older woman who comes up to them more sedately.

“Daniel, who’s your friend?” the woman asks, eyeing him curiously and he stands up a little straighter under her inspection.

“Ma, this is Steve. He was lost,” Danny explains to her, “Steve, this is my Ma, Clara, and my little monkey, Grace.”

Grace lets out a peal of laughter when Danny tickles her and he finds himself watching Danny smile for maybe longer than he should. “Are you meeting anyone?” Clara asks him and when he turns to her she has a calculating expression on her face.

“No, I’m on my own.”

“Well, we can’t have that! Festivals are about being with friends and family!” she says, looping her arm around his and pulling him forward, “You’ll hang out with us today.”

“I don’t want to impose-” he tries to protest but Danny interrupts before he can get too far.

“You might as well just agree. Once Ma sets her mind to something, she doesn’t change it,” Danny tells him and Clara pats him on the cheek with a smile, saying, “I knew I raised you right.”

He does end up spending the whole day with the Williamses. He meets Eddie and Bridget and hears stories about Matt and Stella who couldn’t make the trip, and somehow along the line Grace latches onto him like he’s her new best friend. He doesn’t mind all that much. Grace is a great kid and having her drag him all around the festival just means that he gets to know Danny more.

“You don’t have to hang out with us anymore if you don’t want to,” Danny says out of the blue. He hands over the drinks he went to buy and sits down, watching Grace dance to one of the musicians wandering around.

“That’s okay, I don’t mind.” He takes a drink to hide his smile. Hanging out with the Williamses had been fun, a lot more fun than being on his own would have been, and he’s just selfish enough to want to keep them, and Danny… mostly Danny, around a little longer.

“If you’re sure,” Danny gives in, but Steve can see his smile. He tries to think of something to say to fill the silence but he ends up just watching Danny, lit by the glow of the setting sun. He looks so happy and beautiful that it almost hurts to look at him and he wonders about pressing his luck and trying to make a move. It’s awfully hard to do that when Grace runs up and sits on Danny’s lap, proclaiming that she’s tired.

They get up to go find the rest of the Williamses at the restaurant where they left them when Grace saw the musician and he quietly laments that he’s going to have to say goodbye to Danny soon.

“We can take her back,” Clara says, taking Grace out of Danny’s arms, “Eddie’s getting tired anyway so we’ll take Grace and you boys can stay at the festival longer. I heard this year they’re having fireworks,” she says and he swears that he sees her wink at him.

It takes some arguing but soon they’re waving goodbye as Eddie and Clara carry a dozing Grace off through the crowd. “Don’t worry about staying out too late,” Clara tells Danny and then, for the first time since they met, they’re alone.

They make their way through the festival again, grabbing some gelato and just looking at everything, and he swears that there’s something in the air between them. A tension that has them walking a little closer together than they were before. Every once in a while their shoulders will brush and he wants desperately to do something about the somersaulting his stomach does every time, but he doesn’t know what.

Once the sun sets completely, they find a spot to watch the fireworks from and settle in. It doesn’t take long before the first one goes off, sending bright sparks flying through the sky and lighting up the town. A couple more go off in rapid succession and he turns to Danny only to see that he’s already staring at him. Their eyes meet and he can feel his heart racing, can practically feel Danny’s heartbeat they’re sitting so close together. He doesn’t think, he just leans forward and presses his lips against Danny’s.

He means for it to be a quick kiss but Danny grabs his shirt collar and holds him close. He can feel Danny’s tongue tease at his lips, and he opens his mouth, deepening the kiss so that he can taste the remnants of Danny’s creme gelato. They pull apart when the grand finale goes off, the booms echoing through the streets and pulling them back into the present.

“So, I- uh,” Danny says breathlessly and Steve wants nothing more right now than to kiss him again. So he does.

“I think I need to get back to my hotel,” he says, keeping his tone light enough to give Danny an out if he wants one.

“I think maybe I should show you the way, seeing as you got lost coming here and all,” Danny takes his hand and gently pulls him to his feet so that there’s barely any distance between them.

“I think that’s probably a good idea,” he agrees, kissing Danny again and letting him lead the way back through the piazza.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on [Tumblr](http://erandri.tumblr.com/)!


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